3.

2 Cost of Utilities
From grand composite curve, the cold utility used in our bio-methanol production plant is
30oC cooling water.
Properties of cooling water at 30oC:
Density, = 988.03 kgm-3
Specific heat capacity, Cp = 4.18 kJkg-1K-1
(Webbook.nist.gov, 2015)
To estimate the utility cost, the flowrate of cooling water must be known and this can be
calculated by using the formula shown below:
Q=mCp T
where
Q is the sum of all the cooling duties, kW.
m is the mass flowrate of cooling water, kgs-1.
Cp is the specific heat capacity of cooling water, kJkg-1K-1.
T is the difference in inlet and outlet temperature of cooling water, K.
Given Q = 4727.29 kW, Tin = 30oC, Tout = 50oC, Cp = 4.18 kJkg-1K-1
*Cp is assumed constant as the Cp value doesnt fluctuate much in this temperature range.
m=

Q
Cp T

4727.29
4.18 (5030)

56.55 kgs1
The volumetric flowrate of cooling water, V can be calculated using formula as followed:
V=

m
3600

where
V is the volumetric flowrate of cooling water, m3hr-1.
m is the mass flowrate of cooling water, kgs-1.
is the density of cooling water, kgm-3.
3600 is a factor that converts second, s to hour, hr.
Given m = 56.55 kgs-1, = 988.03 kgm-3
V=

56.55
3600
988.03

206.05 m3 hr 1

Table 4: Water tariff. (Syabas.com.my, 2015)

Usage
For the first 35 m3
35 m3 and above
*Assume the bio-methanol plant is located at Selangor.

Price/m3 (RM)
2.07
2.28

Estimated utility cost per hour:

Utility cost= ( 2.07 35 ) + ( 206.0535 ) 2.28
RM 462.44 per hour

Assume 365 working days and 24 hour operation, the annual utility cost will be:
Annual utility cost=462.44 24 36 5
RM 4,050,974.40

References
Syabas.com.my, 2015. Water Tariff Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1800-88-5252). [Online]
Available at: http://www.syabas.com.my/consumer/water-bill-water-tarif
[Accessed 27 April 2015].
Webbook.nist.gov, 2015. Isobaric Properties for Water. [Online]
Available at: http://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/fluid.cgi?
P=1&TLow=30&THigh=&TInc=&Applet=on&Digits=5&ID=C7732185&Action=Lo
ad&Type=IsoBar&TUnit=C&PUnit=bar&DUnit=kg%2Fm3&HUnit=kJ
%2Fkg&WUnit=m%2Fs&VisUnit=Pa*s&STUnit=N%2Fm&RefState=DEF
[Accessed 27 April 2015].